While discussing the special mission Ozpin has assigned them, Yang decides to tempt fate by asking What Could Possibly Go Wrong? The girls (and Weiss in particular) are naturally horrified, so how does Yang respond?
Yang: I'm sure this mission will go off without a hitch. It can't possibly get any worse than the last few missions. I’m not expecting any trouble. After all, we're invincible! * Cue Smash Cut where Team RWBY are standing on top of a pile of dead Grimm, the portal they just ran through is now gone, and Ruby, Weiss, and Blake are glaring at Yang.* Yang:I said I was sorry!
Team RWBY's reaction to Nox, the first Pokémon they meet, is dumbstruck silence at his appearance, intelligence, and combat ability.
Yang's reaction to a Golbat's physiology, openly wondering where it's everything is.
Gary and Tracey are walking to Golden Valley's Pokémon Center and spot Team RWBY. Gary, who has been absolutely insufferable about how much he doesn't like working with Professor Cypress, decides to flirt with the girls. Yang, being Yang, takes it upon herself to deal with him.
Yang lowered her voice to a husky contralto, using seductive tones that had never failed to get the undivided attention of any guy she directed them at. "Oh, it would be so nice to have a big strong man to show us around…" Gary's grin grew a little wider as she spoke, believing that his flirting had succeeded, but his smile took a sudden turn for the forced as she continued. "...Know where we can find one?"
What is Tracey doing in the meantime? Sketching Yang's verbal beatdown of Gary, complete with a depiction of the other three girls eating popcorn.
Something of a Brick Joke, as Tracey pulls out that sketch later and Cypress laughs at it.
And then Yang decides to mess with Gary one more time by hanging off Tracey's arm when they enter the Pokémon Center. As soon as Gary sees them...
Ruby: I didn't even know someone could get that kind of distance with a Spit Take! Too bad about that girl's shirt, though.
The sheer Dramatic Irony in Team RWBY's assessment of Pokémon prior to the tournament.
When Team RWBY is in a haunted mansion, Blake is the only one to figure out that the scary events are just Ghost-type Pokémon playing pranks. She chooses not to tell the others, enjoying their panic. She even helps the Ghosts make it even scarier for the others.
Yang gets so scared that she actually jumps into Ruby's arms, who quickly loses her balance and collapses with Yang on top of her.
The Ghosts leave some threatening messages on some walls, one of which still has a grammar mistake referencing a certain meme which is crossed out and fixed.
Yang forces Damien to battle Torchic himself. Ruby steals his belt so he cannot use his other Pokémon, but it also makes his pants fall. As he tries to run away while pulling up his pants, Torchic blasts him in the butt with Ember.
When Gary meets the group a second time, Blake can hear Weiss mutter "what fresh hell is this" under her breath.
Blake is oddly quiet when Gary shows off his Arcanine. Yang pokes her shoulder, only for Blake to dissolve into shadows. The real Blake is already up the nearest tree, gaining the high ground.
When Arcanine shows off its Flamethrower, Blake starts muttering that it's a Hellhound, then pinches herself and asks why she can't wake up.
When the group arrives at Professor Oak's lab, Weiss is ambushed by a Glomp from Muk (and saved by Bulbasaur). Then she finds out what Muk is.
Shade steals a slice of pizza from Yang only to be surprised by how spicy it is.
Noticing how nervous Weiss is around the Evolution Stonesnote They're the form Dust takes in this universe, and are essentially hyper-charged Dust crystals, Oak takes the time to troll her and juggle them.
Tracey's Scyther's reaction to Ruby pulling out Crescent Rose.
When Karen is telling Blake that she doesn't have to worry about her past as a White Fang member being held against her, she says that if they locked up every former member of a criminal organization, they'd fill up the prisons three times over. Blake then asks if that's a statement on the number of prisons or the number of criminal groups.
Karen: Probably both, if I'm honest.
As a gun nut, Ruby dismissing the Desert Braviary owned by Lt. Surge on the basis of it not being powerful enough is hilarious. The Desert Eagle is known for being impractical due to high recoil, high weight, high encumbrance, and low magazine size, with its overkill factor not getting even close to justifying all these flaws. Yet to Ruby, the Desert Eagle might as well be a snub nosed pistol trying to be a Thompson machine gun.
A Geist attempts to possess a porta-potty, and instantly regrets it.
Lux takes command of a situation by ordering some cute Pokémon to comfort their Trainers so their panic won't attract a huge Grimm.
Lux: Now get over there and be fuzzy, dammit.
A large group of Grimm attack Azalea Town, but have to go through a Pokémon habitat to do so. See the epic battle between... a horde of Apathy and a herd of Slowpokes.
The Slowpokes using Yawn on the Apathy, whose own screams seemingly don't affect the slow creatures, which Gary puts to "Duel of the Fates", is hilarious enough, but Gary has his Alakazam ask them if any of the Slowpoke were hurt in the battle. Seven minutes later, they reply: 'Whaaaaat baaaaattle?'.
Ozpin and Ironwood's conversation in chapter 25 is full of funny moments, but a highlight is when Ironwood asks about Absol.
Soon after, Ironwood voices concern that Absol could be a threat. Glynda stares at him in disbelief as the scene cuts to Absol feeling happy about having friends.
Taiyang's reaction when he realizes that Pyrrha's in love with Jaune while the latter is Oblivious to Love: dope slapping him and shouting at him to ask Pyrrha out.
Absol gleefully rigs a punchbowl to fall on Team CRDL while they are antagonizing Jaune and Pyrrha. The bullies storm out in embarrassment while the latter two accidentally hug. Neptune Vasilias having an unfortunate mishap involving a visiting female (presumably Nebula Violette of Team NDGO) is what causes the punchbowl to become a weapon against CRDL.
Blake lampshading the Contrived Coincidence of the new team members matching their trainers rather well, then trying to do a fake-out with her choice and ending up with a Litten.
Yang's new Jangmo-o's reaction to being cuddled by Yang.
When she attempts to make a Badass Boast by quoting Smaug, the Fire and Ghost types present point out that they are are Fire and Death, not her.
Litten is so excited after seeing Team RWBY's fight he just babbles to himself about how cool it was.
Litten tries to catch Blake's ribbon and ends up face-planting on the sand. His attempt to brush it off then fails miserably.
Whisper's tremendous glee when she sets Piplup/Rein on fire, and how calmly Piplup takes being on fire. To be fair to Piplup, not only is the ocean close by but Piplup's also a Water-type.
Yang nicknames Jangmo-o Sabra, which the Dragon-Type only accepts after Yang mentions it was the name of a princess from a legend about a dragon, though she only tells Lux that Sabra was a Damsel in Distress that had to be rescued from the dragon, which leaves both of them grinning.
Everyone's reactions when Yang picks a fight with Tapu Koko.
At the kitchen table sat Yang, her chin resting on her fist. The blonde warrior was fairly simmering with repressed rage, and her red eyes glared balefully at the heiress, daring her to say. One. Word. Her entire head of hair was standing on end, crackles of static occasionally leaping from one strand to another with an actinic flicker and a soft pop. The smell of ozone permeated the air. Overall, she resembled some manner of tempestuous dandelion.
Lillie wondering who names the Z-Crystals. RWBY is on a similar boat when they found out that Mega Evolution Stones are almost just as bad. Even Hala is not exactly enamored with their naming scheme.
Mercury is a huge fan of Howling at the Moon, which weirds Cinder and Emerald out.
Lux and Nox try to get Sabra out of her shock at seeing Yang fight Tapu Koko by using Reverse Psychology on her. Unfortunately, this works a bit too well, and Sabra promptly tries to gnaw off Yang's arm. While Yang and the rest of her team were explaining how Aura can protect the user from injuries. The conversation continues while Yang nonchalantly pries Sabra off her arm.
Blake apparently has a shelf full of erotic literature that the other members of Teams RWBY and JNPR pretend not to know about.
When talking to Kali and Ghira about it, Ruby tries to pretend that Blake hates that kind of stuff... and can't even finish the sentence with a straight face before she and Yang crack up. It's then revealed that Blake hides said literature behind their textbooks, and somehow thinks that they aren't aware of it.
Yatsuhashi's I Told You So moment after Team CFVY learning that they could have been informed about Team RWBY's situation if they had justasked like Team JNPR had (out of concern due in large part to rumors spread by CRDL, who just so happened to be the closest team to where RWBY went), much to Coco's ire.
The reason that the Team Skull trio is barred from Mantine surfing? Much like how it went in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, they kept trying to do their dances while riding a Mantine and don't seem to get why their antics, which nearly got themselves and others hurt, are a problem. When they challenge Yang to a battle, the proprietor, who was annoyed with their antics, mentions their real names to Yang, apparently only out of spite.
Yang's incredulous reaction to a Team Skull member actually using "hizzouse" unironically.
When Yang performs a Groin Attack on a Team Skull grunt, even the Pokémon have a Share the Male Pain moment, while Lux is slightly horrified to realize that Sabra's awestruck, noting that you don't have to be an Absol to feel a sense of impending doom.
Yang's beatdown of some Team Skull grunts in chapter 32. Capped off with a Censored for Comedy bit:
This senseless and brutal massacre censored for the sake of basic decency.
After the battle is over, Sabra is using the Yungoos as a perch, and Lux is likewise resting on the tubbier goon, Zipp, and having a talk about how comfy they are, while Yang is giving Rapp a mega wedgie and pushing Tupp into the ground and forcing him to say that "balls are a privilege, not a right".
Chapter 33 features Teams JNPR and CFVY worrying about what sort of hell Team RWBY must be going through after a month without contact... only for the narration to repeatedlyDescription Cut to the latter having a relaxing day in Alola.
When Ruby and Weiss go through Diglett's Tunnel their Pokémon find the local Diglett sing "Diggy Diggy Hole" while they dig. Nox notes that the Digglett back home sing something closer to "Hi Ho", and the humans can't seem to tell the difference.
After 'sunbathing' in the rain, Rein nonchalantly strolls in and dries off with a dishtowel.
Marian teases Lux after getting hit by Attract by asking if it was "Dem Legs" he found so attractive, using her own deceptively long legs as a guide.
After three separate evolutions based around action, emotion, and strong character moments, Shade proceeds to defy the trend by evolving from winning a game of checkers, much to Mal's (Shade's opponent) disbelief.
Nanu pretends to be his brother Nuna so he doesn't have to tell Blake about Tapu Bulu. Blake doesn't buy it for a second.
Nox lampshading how the Alolan Forms means that names don't always make sense anymore, like how Alolan Sandslash is an Ice and Steel type.
It turns out that Marian is the granddaughter of "The Goodfeather", the Honchkrow in charge of Alola's biggest Murkrow flock. She intimidates a Team Skull Murkrow she's familiar with to help her return the berries he and his trainer stole just by being polite.
Qrow and Absol spy on Winter succumbing to Zwei's Cuteness Proximity. As she walks away at first the two pretend they didn't see her... until Qrow lets on they saw the whole thing. Winter runs away, embarrassed.
While speculating on Salem's motivation, Faba mentions stealing all the cheese in the world.
Kukui:I went to college and got a Master's Degree. You took over a street gang.
Guzma's Golisopod tries to speak formally but reverts to the same speech pattern as the rest of Team Skull when stressed.
Tapu Koko has a music player that he "acquired" from a nearby town and hides it whenever people visit the Ruin of Conflict.
After their latest battle with Yang, Tapu Koko gets impatient with Hala's ceremonial grandstanding and steals the Fightinium Z out of his pocket, much to Hala's visible annoyance.
A Cenitaur breaks off its acid attack and almost desperately scrabbles at the edge of its burrow before Diglett drag it back under. When Whisper teleports over she hears the Diglett whooping it up down below, complete with war cries.
When she hears the Aether Foundation members criticizing her for killing Grimm, Ruby can only respond with a Flat "What".
Whisper gives her own statement that sums up what the huntresses were thinking.
Whisper: I have a question! Why are you so dumb?
Blake once turned in a set of reviews on the seafood places of Vale's east side instead of a history report. When she says that it was an accident, and she turned in the actual report the next day, Yang counters that still doesn't explain why she had said reviews to begin with.
Gladion's introduction, in all his edgy glory. The narration adopts the tone of a teenage author introducing their "cool" original character, lovingly describing Gladion's appearance and actions as melodramatically as possible. Then Yang, Blake, and Casey burst out laughing, and the narration proceeds to detail just how ridiculous he looks.
Yang: Aw, lookit the cute widdle edgelord!
Blake, as someone who has known edgelords and even dated one, disagrees. Gladion is at most an "edge squire".
Gladion's attempt to intimidate them fails miserably, especially since he's overheating because he was dumb enough to wear all black in the tropical Alola - when he tries to say that underestimating him is a mistake, Casey shoots back that the only mistake is his outfit. Even funnier is that this fic is one of the few places to actually show Gladion overheating because he wears all black in Alola, the games, anime and manga never mentioned this as a problem.
Sabra is put out that she missed her first chance to fight the Grimm, complete with an epic pout.
Why did Guzma give Gladion the job of taking Team RWBY down a peg, despite not thinking that he could do it? Either way, it would be funny.
Guzma keeps trying to make grandiose speeches to reassure the other Skulls while Team RWBY storms Po Town but repeatedly cuts himself off as they calmly use their powers to make their way up to him.
Faba releases the hundred or so Grimm held in Aether Paradise, confident that Team RWBY will never able to get through them. Watts facepalms in response before explaining that's only a speed bump. Faba's reaction is loud enough to be heard through his soundproofing.
When a Salandit attacks Yang when team RWBY arrives at Lusamine's office, the Aether Foundation workers inside thinking that she's a Grimm, Yang not only snarks at the person stating the obvious, but notes that she's detecting a pattern with the species.
Seeing Nebby evolve into Solgaleo and start tearing the Grimm apart, Yang decides to make a quip to help break the tension everyone's been feeling since the Grimm stopped acting docile. Lillie can't help but double over in laughter in response to the quip.
Yang: "Did Nebby get a haircut, or something? Because I just can't place it, but…"
Faba and Watts are forced to escape to Remnant, but Faba takes the time to copy the data from the computers and then wipe them clean. He gloats to Salem that it will take them years to recover the data. Cut to an IT technician saying it will take an hour and mocking Faba for not considering the backup servers.
Salem bluntly noting that Faba is going to "betray the shit out of [her]".
When a Wormhole opens up at Beacon, Fox Alistair, who's blind, asks if the others can fill him in on what has the rest of them in Stunned Silence.
Ruby, Weiss, and Blake fall over each other when they get out of the Wormhole at Beacon.
Ruby uses her Semblance to get out of the pile, leaving the other two to fall to the ground.
After months of worrying about team RWBY stuck in another world, the rescue team is a little indignant to find out they've essentially been spending their time in a tropical paradise.
To figure out where the Wormholes they were making opened up the research team used what Ruby calls the "Mark I Ultra Wormhole Scanning Device". Or, as Blake interjects, a camera duct-taped to a broom handle.
When Sun tries to find Blake in her room by looking through the window, he accidentally steps on Mal's tail. When Blake at the floor outside, she finds Mal wrecking Sun.
A student pipes up to ask Glynda whether the three-on-four matchup of Ruby and her Pokémon vs Team CRDL is unfair, which she admits is the case.
Glynda: As Huntsmen and Huntresses, unfair matchups and poor odds are simply a fact of life, and one must be prepared to deal with them. Team CRDL will simply need to buckle down and try their best.
During the fight with Team SSSN, Blake just sits back and lets Shade's illusions keep the boys distracted while she and Mal toss an attack every once in a while.
Marian gets incredibly flustered after watching Lux evolve.
Ghira's fury when he learns what Adam did interrupts Ozpin and Ironwood's chess match... much to the latter's relief, since his military skill does not translate to the game, to Ozpin's amusement.
When Weiss points out how bad Blake's Paper-Thin Disguise was (enrolling under her own name, which is well known as that of Menagerie's leaders, and only having her ribbon to hide her Faunus features), Blake replies that it worked.
Winter is described as trying to flirt with Riley - and Lucario is Face Palming because Winter is doing a terrible job and Riley is completely oblivious.
Apparently Weiss got one of her Z-Crystals by beating Totem Oricorio in a hula-dance contest.
The Running Gag of CRDL trying to throw their weight around the Pokemon Trainers (specifically Gary, Casey, and Lillie), only to get humiliated in nearly the exact same way; one pinned to the ground, one held aloft telepathically (except for with Casey, where they're being held by Pidgeot), one in a grapple, and Cardin with his head in a Pokemon's jaws, nervously trying to diffuse the situation.
Yang catches Whisper reading Ninjas of Love. Whisper begs Yang not to tell Weiss.
Then Whisper asks her a question about a part of the story.
Whisper: Is this actually possible? Because I didn't think humans could bend like that! Yang:(reads the paragraph and blushes) Uh… wow. That's… wow. (she clears her throat,tilts her head) Um… maybe? If they practiced yoga for long enough first?
Cinder calls Salem to tell her that not only was she unable to kill Absol as ordered, but Team RWBY has returned and people from Earth have made diplomatic contact with Ozpin and Ironwood. When she mentions Nebby, Salem cuts the call, leaving Cinder stunned... and she gets a call from Hazel.
As soon as she accepted the call and raised the scroll to her ear, Cinder could hear distant crashes, the rumble of collapsing stone, and an unending shriek of pure, elemental, unholy rage. It was enough that she barely made out Hazel's blunt, forceful, and slightly terrified question. "What. Did. You. DO?!"
Weiss and Yang finally get to tease Jaune for taking so long to realize Pyrrha's feelings for him.
Blake mentions she got the Ghost Z-Crystal, but doesn't remember how. A flashback shows that she, Shade, and Mal took Forget-Me-Shots to erase what they saw when Totem Mimikyu used its Z-Move on them. Apparently, it was so disturbing that Mal turned into his Shiny version.
Mal: WHAT HAS BEEN SEEN CANNOT BE UNSEEN!
When Jacques shows up to pull Weiss out of Beacon accompanied by his bodyguards, Weiss decides to pull his leg first.
Jacques: Weiss. We are leaving. Immediately. Weiss: So soon after arriving? That's unfortunate, but I know how busy you are.
Then, when Jacques claims her behavior isn't proper of a Schnee, Weiss fires back by reminding him he's not a Schnee by birth, and states that perhaps he should learn from her example.
Weiss:(thinking) My, turning that shade of purple can't be healthy.
Even Team CRDL supports Weiss when she stands up to her father. Not because they agree with the sentiment, but because everyone else is and even they wouldn't ruin the moment.
